Wednesday, September 28, 2011

In chapter 7 the importance of maintaining positive media coverage is discussed. From the start our group has an advantage because our goal is one valued across almost all people and contexts. This does not mean however that we are totally in the clear. It's important to keep in mind the language that is being used regarding our topic, be it through blogs our a Facebook group promoting our vision. As discussed in chapter 4 language is a major component in the persuasion process and one "out of place" word can result in the loss of the audience. Language is also important more specifically online because it determines what comes up in a search engine such as Google. While our topic will probably not receive television coverage it is still important to instill a positive message with reporters. While we are raising awareness in a positive light, those who were steered the wrong way in an interaction with us have the ability to raise negative awareness. It is also important that we as a group compile a basic set of information that we think best reflects our mission in the event that we are in fact interviewed. It is also very important to demonstrate your best behavior as it will reflect upon the organization which you are representing. While some of these points are fairly obvious they are very important nonetheless and can be a major influence in the raising of awareness.

Chapter 5 demonstrated the importance of staying technologically relevant, the benefits for doing so, and the problems that ensue if not. This topic relates to our situation through our use of different potential media types to help raise awareness. Company's and groups must stay innovative in order to keep up with competition as well as the world around them. A relative quote is "innovate or die" this is relevant to our topic of domestic abuse because if we chose the wrong type of media by which to broadcast our topic we would not be able to draw peoples attention. An example of this is the company Blockbuster which faces financial problems as a result of a slowing of sales. This resulted after many people switched over to Netflix. Netflix enables members to receive movies right at their doorstep through the mail, as well as watch movies instantly on their website. Blockbuster who did not innovate is unable to provide as much and has suffered as a result. While these are organizations working to make a profit their situation is important to keep in mind because it exemplifies the importance of innovation. If our group were to post somthing regarding domestic abuse in the newspaper it would not receive near as many viewers than if it were to be posted online or through a Facebook group. Since our target audience is primarily college students we want to use the same media as them in order to maximize our effectiveness. As stated in another previous blog of mine, the use of radio to broadcast our topic would work well too. Since many college students listen to the Clemson radio station it would help increase our audience.

While reading chapter 4 I noticed that a lot of the information compounded on some of the topics in chapter 3. More specifically chapter 3 discussed the use of polls in order to discover peoples beliefs and values. Chapter 4 talks about using your knowledge of these values to establish your own set of values that should reflect those of the people observed. By establishing a mission statement that reflects the views of the specific group of people, that group of people in turn identifies with the organization. Therefore I think that it's important to include Safe Harbor's mission statement on something visible to the public. People will be able to identify with the mission statement because the value of safety and fairness are universal among everyone. For this reason I also think that it may be a good idea to come up with our own mission statement, this would have to be separate from safe harbors so not to cause confusion among viewers. We are also at an advantage in that according to frameworks our value is at "Level One" or a primary value. This means that people hold it to be very important and direct more attention to it as a result. This chapter also discussed the use of storytelling in order to convey a specific meaning. I think that this is going to be our strongest asset, as discussed in class no other technique makes people more emotionally moved. The use of a personal story puts a "face" on the problem and shows people what had been endured in the case of domestic abuse. This is better than a statistic because people are able to identify with the storyteller and feel empathy for them. In combination with fitting music, this can be a very powerful persuasive mechanism. An example of this can be seen in the commercial with Sarah McGloughan where she discusses the problem of animal abuse and neglect. In combination with pictures and music it is so moving that many others and myself must change the channel.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

When reading this chapter I agree with the author in the importance of public opinion research in the target of specific audiences. By using polls we would be able to find what issues to focus on and what are the most important issues according to college students. As discussed in the chapter however, polls can be expensive, depending on the manner in which they are conducted. While it may be possible to reach students through email, I believe that a poll may be misconstrued as spam and would not receive a great deal of attention. I think that if we so chose to we could poll students somewhere on campus like the library bridge. In polling students we could find ways in which to better tailor our approach on this matter. I say students specifically in this because I believe that they would be our best target audience, due largely in that they make up the majority of Clemson. In order to get students to participate in a poll we would need some sort of incentive as well, this is relatively simple however and could be something as easy as candy.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

When reviewing some of the ideas to raise awareness for safe harbor I liked the idea of drink night the best.
I think that the idea of having purple drinks was clever but I also think that there is a lot of potential for other ideas regarding this. I think that some of these could include ways in which we could raise money as well as raising awareness. Raising awareness would no doubt be easier, this could be done by simply placing a message on a coaster. I think that bars would be more inclined to this as well because it makes them look good and doesn't cost them any money. Raising money for our cause will be a little more difficult, especially since we are working with local businesses which will understandably look after there own well being first and foremost. A way in which we can counteract this would be by driving more customers to specific bars, while this cannot necessarily be guaranteed for bar owners we need to find a way in which they believe this to be possible. It will be tricky working out a fair deal with the bars as well, we should find a way to differentiate between the regulars at the bar and those whom had shown up in support of Safe Harbor. If we got people who had shown up for Safe Harbor to sign a sheet upon entry of the bar we could somehow factor that into the deal with the owner. All in all I think that the bar idea has a lot of potential and would be one of the best ideas for both raising awareness and money in order to help our cause.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

This chapter entitled "Elements For a Strategic Social Plan" discussed ways in which the media should be handled and used to help further your cause. Some of the chapter I found to be self-explanatory while other areas offered some insight which I thought may help our cause. In the beginning of the chapter the book discussed the so called media chain by which stories move until they have reached national coverage. The reading emphasized getting your topic on all available resources in order to help broaden your horizons. If our topic, for example, were to be posted on online resources such as Clemson's website or Facebook, in combination with print such as the school newspaper, the amount of people we would be able to reach would be drastically higher than if it were just on one media source. The reason for this is obvious, with more people seeing it, the more likely the topic is to draw more people. This chapter also reiterated the importance of clearly stating the organizations values. This is best done through the use of some sort of catchy phrase seen in many advertisements today. This phrase can then be placed on all sorts of print media created by the organization, such as an information pamphlet. The book goes on to state the importance of factual data on items such as these. I thought that a good idea would be to create some sort of informational pamphlet like this with facts about domestic violence. In the beginning of class we were to blog on some of our findings about domestic violence. After doing so I know that many of us were shocked in some of the facts that we had discovered and I feel that other people would react similarly. One fact was that domestic violence occurs primarily in lower income areas. As a result it may be beneficial to tailor much of the campaign towards these areas. The book discusses the power of using media selectively towards certain groups. If we did this we may reach people that are experiencing the trauma of domestic violence.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

While visiting the Safe Harbor shelter I began immediately thinking of ideas in which our class would be able to help. Some of my thoughts and ideas had shifted however after hearing Julie describe the situation which the shelter was in. First and foremost I think that advertising is very important. I believe that through advertising we will be able to not only gain support for our cause but also help to raise awareness leading others to start similar groups. I think that a good way we could go about doing this would be through a purple out at one of the Clemson football games, as discussed at the shelter. Purple is the color representing the fight against domestic abuse and if all of the student body was wearing purple it would show just how important of an issue this is. I think that another way to raise awareness for this cause would be to put on some sort of domestic violence prevention walk. If we were to promote making a donation at the walk it would help us to raise startup money which we could then put in to more advertising. The good thing about a walk is that people around Clemson would see many people walking leading them to ask why. This would in turn help to further raise awareness. I think that once we have enough support for our cause we can then begin creating ways in which we earn money. This is especially important after hearing Julie say that they do not have enough room to house everyone and so they have to turn people away as a result. I think that if enough people knew about this problem then we could potentially raise enough money to fund another shelter.

Chapter one of the textbook offered insight into the basic foundations of non-profit communications. I think that it is important to continue referencing this while our class tries to come up with ideas for Safe Harbor as our project is non-profit as well. Chapter one had pointed out that non-profit organizations can have several advantages. One of which is that people do not feel pressured as they would if an organization was trying to sway them for money. Another advantage discussed in the text was that non-profit organizations are generally trying to make the world a better place, this immediately casts the organization in a positive light. Accordingly a reoccurring theme in this chapter is to keep the organizations values in mind at all times. This helps to shape the goals that the organization will strive for and will serve as the backbone by which the group functions. By making these goals and values apparent to others the organization is better able to convey what they stand for and will help to gain others support for their cause. Another important factor to consider in the start up of a non-profit organization is the allocation of money. I believe that in order to make money you have to spend money and the best way to do this while starting up is through advertising. By advertising the organization the group is able to then gain more support from volunteers, policy makers, other organizations, ect. as well as raise awareness of the problem at hand.